1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to fluid handling systems and apparatus, to frangible and other fluid connectors, to valving and fluid gating, to connectors and to connector systems with and without valves.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following disclosure statement is made pursuant to the duty of disclosure imposed by law and formulated in 37 CFR 1.56(a). No representation is hereby made that information thus disclosed in fact constitutes prior art, inasmuch as 37 CFR 1.56(a) relies on a materiality concept which depends on uncertain and inevitably subjective elements of substantial likelihood and reasonableness and inasmuch as a growing attitude appears to require citation of material which might lead to a discovery of a pertinent material though not necessarily being of itself pertinent. Also, the following comments contain conclusions and observations which have only been drawn or become apparent after conception of the subject invention or which contrast the subject invention or its merits against the background of developments which may be subsequent in time or priority.
Also, the invention is not intended to be limited by any recided sequence of method steps or apparatus elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 991,690, by C. L. Bowker, issued May 9, 1911, for a gate valve using wedge-shaped ribs for forcing valve disks into engagement with their seats.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,995,727, by H. L. Wetherbee, issued Mar. 26, 1935, for valve for hot gas mains, also using a wedge to force the valve against its seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,001,094, by F. Cuttle, issued May 14, 1935, for a gate valve using inclined surfaces for dislodging the gate.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,282,553, by M. W. Banowetz, issued May 12, 1942, for a gate valve using matching inclined gate and valve seat surfaces for sealing the valve shut.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,614,792, by J. Trefil, issued Oct. 21, 1952 for valve guide means transverse inclined surfaces for holding a closure member shut.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,823,888, by R. O. Wynn, issued Feb. 18, 1958, for a gate valve using two ported abutting gate members having complementary inclined inner faces for a valve sealing wedging action.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,834,571, by W. C. Hollander, issued May 13, 1958, for valves with wedging valve elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,511, by W. McInnes, issued Aug. 2, 1960, for valves with closing wedges.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,039,734, by D. W. Blevans, issued Jun. 19, 1962, for gate valves having wedge faces for moving a sealing ring into sealing engagement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,174, by W. B. Gilpin, issued Jun. 23, 1964, discloses valves for automatically reducing the flow of a fluid which is in excess of normal flow. However, even in the open condition of the valve, the fluid passage is obstructed by a tubular piston extension in a restrictive orifice.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,358,961, by R. A. Montgomery et al, issued Dec. 19, 1967, discloses a pressure relief gate valve in which the gate or shutter is driven by an explosive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,728, by A. R. Taylor, issued Sep. 3, 1968, discloses a conduit closure apparatus in which rams are hydraulically driven to crush a collapsible sleeve thereby sealing off a fluid passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,692, by C. L. Tillman, issued Mar. 25, 1969, for a bifaced wedged gate valve using wedges and camming members for tight closure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,822, by C. H. Chronister, issued Jan. 26, 1971, for a gate valve having telescoping sleeve coacting sealing wedges.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,949, by E. Muller, issued Feb. 2, 1971, for a gate valve with inclined spindle for wedging action of the valve disk.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,481, by L. Martin et al, issued Aug. 31, 1971, for a resilient seat gate valve with disk wedging action.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,043, by C. A. H. M. Waskowsky, issued Sep. 19, 1972, discloses a safety appliance for preventing an excessive flow of fluid, such as upon rupture of a pipe, wherein a fluid locking device obstructs a fluid flow passage at least partially, even in the open condition of the appliance.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,777, by E. G. Althaus, issued Jul. 22, 1975, for a gate valve with wedge-shaped gate for increased sealing action.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,656, by D. T. Meisenheimer Jr., et al, issued Nov. 25, 1975, discloses self-closing breakaway valve assemblies in which a trigger mechanism is in the fluid flow path between spring-biased rotary valve members.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,852, by T. Svensson, issued Aug. 17, 1976, discloses a hose rupture valve in which a flow restriction disc is continuously in the fluid passage in one position or the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,524, by A. R. Allread et al, issued May 23, 1978, discloses a frangible valved fitting utilizing spring-biased flapper valves.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,099, by E. K. Pierce, Jr., issued Dec. 18, 1979, for an expanding gate valve with cam surfaces for wedging action.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,813, by N. Cho, issued Apr. 1, 1980, for a valve with interacting inclined surfaces for valve sealing action.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,604, by R. E. Bird, issued Mar. 16, 1982, discloses a safety shut-off valve wherein valve elements are continuously in the fluid flow passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,555, by J. G. Thomson, issued Apr. 27, 1982, discloses a breakaway coupling having spring-biased pivotally moveable valve petals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,351, by J. F. Flory et al, issued Sep. 28, 1982, discloses a breakaway pipe coupling having spring-biased rotary valves interconnected by crank and rod couplings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,165, by J. F. Flory, issued Nov. 30, 1982, discloses a breakaway type coupling wherein one or more spring-biased flapper valves are continuously disposed in the fluid passage in one position or another.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,548, by M. S. Chou, issued Feb. 15, 1983, discloses a gas flow safety control device in which valve elements are continuously disposed in the gas flow passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,096, by L. G. Voisine, issued Aug. 14, 1984, discloses a breakaway fluid valve coupling in which valve elements are also continuously disposed in the fluid flow passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,509, by Lewcock et al., issued Nov. 20, 1984, for a guillotine valve assembly with slanted rails for improved valve sealing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,201, by F. E. King et al, issued Sep. 30, 1986, discloses a breakaway coupling for hose lines in which valve elements are also continuously disposed in the fluid flow passage, even in the open valve condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,303, by D. S. Greenberg, issued Feb. 3, 1987, discloses a seismically activated valve in which a ferromagnetic ball is magnetically suspended, but drops into a closure position if seismically moved.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,592, by E. G. Tibbals, Jr, issued Aug. 25, 1987, discloses an earthquake tremor-responsive shut-off valve including a magnetically suspended pendulous weight adapted to be dropped for closure of the valve upon occurence of a tremor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,939, by C. W. Greer et al, issued May 24, 1988, discloses a shock-actuated shut-off valve with a tethered reset system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,842, by A. W. Johnson, Jr, issued Nov. 22, 1988, discloses a resettable vibration-actuated emergency shutoff mechanism wherein a magnetically suspended valve mechanism is continuously disposed in the fluid flow passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,657, by M. Kovacs, issued Apr. 4, 1989, discloses an inertially activated shutoff valve wherein a plug is jarred free from a magnetic holding position to block the flow of fluid to the valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,461, by R. Yeager issued May 23, 1989, discloses electrical circuitry for closing a gas line under the control of a motion detector.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,113, by C. R. Jones, issued Jul. 4, 1989, discloses a safety valve in which a moveable poppet is held in a stable position by magnets and by a moveable weight, which displaces the poppet in response to a seismic event.